All Stories FeedCan The Apprentice shine in MasterChef’s shadow?
Nine will be hoping to tap into some of TEN’s reality television success as production gets underway on The Apprentice.
The series features Mark Bouris (pictured) as our very own Donald Trump, just without his trademark hairwave.
The series is produced by FremantleMedia Australia, the same company behind MasterChef Australia. Casting has been completed by Kirsty de Vallance at A Cast of Thousands.
De Vallance was also behind Nine and Fremantle’s other project The Farmer Wants a Wife plus World’s Strictest Parents, Project Runway Australia, The Biggest Loser and even some audience participants for Insight ’s forums on SBS.
Earlier this year she told TV Tonight, “Masterchef will be a really good demographic. It is something we were all aiming for. They didn’t want a whole group of 20 year olds. If you’re casting a lot of young people they haven’t always had the life experience to bring to conversations. It creates a better dynamic.”
Of course the premise for The Apprentice encourages team collusion and degrees of bitchiness, none of which was evident on the TEN hit series.
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I know one of the contestants – if deviousness and ’suck up’ is part of the criteria, I would expect him to win.
Hopefully it will be more like the UK version (very good) and not the American (over the top).
$100k job offer. This show must be a joke. Which business professionals would give up their career for a measly pay packet. I read from nine’s site that this is going to be a different kind of apprentice show than the US, I can smell a flop already.
I was cast as a final contestant for The Apprentice ‘Australian version’.. I must say I am quietly pleased that I was not chosen due to the calibre of person I think the casting agent was aiming for.
An example of the type of contestant that made the Final Cut:
-A woman who worked at a brothel!!! I couldn’t believe it either.
-An unemployed loud mouthed woman who turned up half drunk to the second stage of auditions…..
-An Arts degree graduate with no work experience????
I was clearly not thinking straight when I auditioned for what I thought would be a representation of Australia’s finest business people coming together on a show for a job with Mark Bouris. I’m not sure if the best business men and women of Australia would give up their jobs for a position with a new financial planning/services company for only $100k a year, but hey you get to be on a reality TV show!!
I was also rather shocked at the whole casting process. Two auditions, lots of paperwork and an on-line personality test that you do from home. Then an e-mail saying Congrats or Sorry you have not made it. If you were chosen you would then be flown to Sydney straight away for filming which has already started. I have no idea when the casting agent would check references, criminal record checks etc…??? Not sure how Kirsty (Director) from ‘A Cast of Thousands’ can really be that thorough with only a small team of 3 working in her business???? Very interesting….This is probably why the show could be amusing to watch by putting a group of people together who have no real idea about the business world of today!!
I really hope this is not an embarrassment for Mark Bouris and his new business venture which will be advertised throughout the series. If only Donald Trump was somehow involved, then I’m sure the ratings might be very different for Channel 9.
I have never been a bit fan of the reality tv. I saw a couple of episodes of Master Chef and found that the judges were as much a part of the show as the contestants. i thoroughly enjoyed the judges affirming people, providing positive feedback, and not degrading or putting down the contestants. I sincerely hope that The Apprentice does the same. If so I think it will be a credible show, affirming peoples ability to take on challenges and encouraging contestants to have a go, and ambition is not a dirty word. fingers X.
The days of nasty tv should be over by now,
good luck with this one 9.
@Ben: Thanks for posting those links and I got plenty of LOLs from some of the predictions (Ten will come 4th, this show will last 3 weeks, 600,000 viewers tops, etc etc etc! ) I guess hindsight is a wonderful thing
Another dud nine.Dance your Ass of indeed!
I’m with Sean on this one. I loved Trump’s version and missed it when it was axed. I also liked the UK version even though we were only shown one series. So, if the Aussie version even comes close, I will be hooked. I love seeing how the tasks are handled, how the team members work with or against each other. I don’t always agree with who gets fired when they do – partly because they keep the interesting personalities in longer than their ability would warrant. Still, an interesting study of human nature if done properly.
Hi James – I think MasterChef was on terrestrial TV for a while, also think that the reason the UK version did not work here was due to the fact that viewers can not directly relate to the contestants, where-as here they will have an automatic connection.
Yes, reported that in my interview with David Mott last week.
I hear TEN passed on this opportunity in favour of Masterchef…enjoy the sloppy seconds Nine!
I will most likely watch it, even if it just for sociological reasons.
You expect a certain type of person in the American series (i.e. Alpha males and females).
There was one person in the British series that made it compelling viewing, just to make sure he didn’t win (he was a real tosser).
It will be interesting to see what sort of person the Australian series throws up. Will we be unique in our business approach, or will we be a pale version of the Americans?
I generally get some insight into business practice, especially at the big end of town, from each episode. So count me in.
Ben – the biggest difference between Masterchef and The Apprentice is that the UK version or Masterchef had never been tested in primetime and the Apprentice franchise has. I doubt whether many who watched the Australian Masterchef would have have ever seen the Masterchef concept before – as I recall Channel Seven were showing episodes of the UK version at 4pm on weekdays in the afternoon and I don’t think it was that successful…or widely watched!
I actually recall a lot of people responding fairly well when the Australian version started this year and i think many thought it was fresh, innovative and with a good cross section of people. I accept their were critics as well.
My point about the Apprentice is that it has been tested here before. The US version was screened numerous times to dwindling ratings in this country and the UK version lasted barely three weeks in prime time before being dumped to 11pm at night…hardly a ratings winner!
I will wait and see what this version is like but can you imagine in a climate when unemployment is on the way up and people are losing their jobs that they want to be reminded of words like ‘Your fired!!!” And who wants to see people in lucrative jobs anyway, living it up in a luxury pad and vying for an even better job when a lot of people are out there struggling to gain work. The timing is all wrong.
The appeal of the Apprentice was not just about backstabbing. I found the tasks very interesting and appreciated the skills involved.
You may have to plan and run an event, organise a team, figure out the best way to sell a product, deal with people, be creative and figure out the best way to accomplish a task.
I think it can be suitable for these times. If the contestants are genuinely talented and they have interesting tasks.
Skills like entrepreneuralism, organisation, creativity, customer service, management and strategy is still important in tough economic times. A lot of businesses have to adapt.
Thanks Ben for posting those links!! That made a really interesting read. People need to stop being so cynical about new shows, lighten up. No wonder so many shows fail, you guys seem like the harshest bunch of people to please sometimes! You’re being harsh for the sake of being harsh, we have such little info to judge this on.
I’m not saying this is a guaranteed success story, but some of you should look back at the links posted by Ben before you place your bets here because some people have come out of the Masterchef phenomenon looking pretty stupid..
I dont think this series will work but as you say Fremantle Media know how to do reality. I will watch the first couple of episodes but I just think this series is 5 years too late!
This will not work. Masterchef seamed like a new idea. Outthere in non-geek Australia they dont know MC was an oversees format. With this however Australia knows and it is old news. It relies on bitchy backstabbing and this is a bad idea. I fugure they have no choice but to air it because of the money already speant but it will fail. The US apprentice was a bad program anyway and people didnt want to watch that here either.
i think this will go well
There was a reason I wrote this story up. Fremantle does reality better than anybody.
People are so quick to bad mouth and attack Aussie productions….
Below are links to the TT articles about the launch of M.C also an overseas format that didn’t initially “work” on Aussie free-to-air. Look at comments and see the amount of doubters there! Almost 4 million on sunday night
Freemantle has shown with Masterchef that our producers can adapt formats and make them work here and improve them.
Have a bit of faith and support our local industry!
http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2008/11/masterchef-to-replace-big-brother.html
http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2009/03/ten-launches-masterchef.html
while a lot of people said masterchef wouldn’t work and were proven wrong, it wasn’t absolutely everyone saying it wouldn’t work like this is, some thought it could. plus we hadn’t already seen several seasons of overseas masterchefs already, like we have with this. so don’t go thinking that you should ignore us all 9 and that it will turn out well, 10 have had plenty of other recent sucesses too like merlin and you certainly have not.
Boo. I want to see Nine fail (yet again) with this latest disaster. They are hopeless.
James makes a good point…Channel 9 never understood the US or UK versions of The Apprentice, so how can they even consider trying to translate something they clearly don’t ‘get’ into an Aussie version.
Would love this to work, but it already stinks of fail.
@CrAig:
No, Nine needs to try something new.
tHe ApPrEnTiCe may work? Or how about APPRENTICE, the? Or maybe theAPPRENTICE? Or THE apprentice?
I really reckon this will flop.
Craig, you have a point.
To fit recent branding this should be renamed ‘The APPRENtice’
Nine should just show the superior version of the Apprentice…Survivor!
Channel Nine just seems lost completeley at the moment with their programming – the American version of this series with Trump died in the arse here several years back , then I recall they tried an ‘english’ version and it lasted 2 minutes here in Australia and was buried in a late night time slot so why oh why would Channel Nine persist with an aussie version.
Same format – just same annoying people – there maybe a curiousity factor for the first few weeks but this is not big brother or australian idol – most people watching have to think a little when they watch this and follow the complicated scenarios each week and that’s when viewers drift!!
And another thing…Not only is it again the wrong climate to be showing greedy ‘apprentice types’ who are already in good jobs aiming for more money and executive status but Mark Bouris is hardly Donald Trump and has always comes across as the Mr Nice Guy of the banking world – now he is to be portrayed as Mr Nasty – please this just doesn’t make sense.
Unfortunately this will again be another HomeMADE – a bomb!!!
This show is not a good idea, Nine.
Steve, do you mean sophisticated like the way Joan Rivers acted on the latest version of Celebrity Apprentice…. lashing out in defence of her daughter and calling that poker player a piece of s**t and a nazi?
People don’t want to watch mean anymore. 9 should stick to the repeats of Two and half men as it seems to be their only trump card these days………
i will give it a go but i think it will be a flop
Yeah I agree with the other posters: this is the wrong show to do at completely the wrong time. What’s wrong with 9? They seem to choose to do pathetic shows and pass on really good ideas!
Camo, I don’t think the Apprentice was ever a bad idea in the states, it will be airing it’s Ninth season in 2010, hardly a flop for NBC mate. Personally I love the show but it’s almost a little too sophisticated for Australian audiences and can’t see it working as well. Also nobody does these shows better than Mark Burnett.
Agree – way wrong time, and just shows how out of touch channel 9 really are.
stop hoping 9…this was a bad idea in america… cant see it working here…but i will be happily corrected.
Ratings for the US apprentice declined over here
Ratings for the UK apprentice never got going over here.
So why bother with an aussie version
No….
Wrong times for a show about greedy money-hungry entrepreneurs trying to get rich.
Fail.